“His chin grazed the top of my head and then his lips brushed across my forehead.“I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’ll be right here when you wake up, sweetheart. I promise.”

“Guess what, Avery?""What?" I wondered if he could see how fast my heart was beating beneath my shirt."Remember how you just said you were having a good time?" Cam lowered his head so that our mouths were scant inches apart. "It's about to get better.""Is it?"He shifted his head and his nose grazed mine. "Oh, yeah.""Are you not going to kiss me again?"His lips tipped up. "That's exactly what I'm going to do.”

“I didn't know what to say, but my heart was racing as he slid his hands down to mine. He placed them on his chest, right above his heart. "I have hope," he said, his gaze never leaving mine. "I have hope because I love you-I've been in love with you, Avery. Probably before I even realized that I was.""You loved me?"Cam dropped his forehead to mine and his chest rose sharply under my hands. "I love you."My heart stuttered. "You love me?""Yes, sweetheart.”

“Leaning back against Cam's chest, I tipped my head back and I reached up, cupping his cheek. I drew his mouth to mine and kissed him softly. "Thank you."His lips curved up on one side. "For what?""For waiting for me.”

“Crumb,” he said.“What?”A slight grin appeared on his face and then he reached out, without the napkin, and before I knew what he was doing, he smoothed his thumb over my bottom lip. Every single muscle in my body locked up and became painfully tense. My eyes widened and the air caught in my throat. The touch was slight, barely anything, but I felt it in several parts of my body.“Got it.” His grin spread.”

“I’ll accept your apology on one condition.” He folded his arms across his chest.“Anything?”“You trust me.”

“Racing up the wide staircase, I barreled through the double doors and smacked right into a brick wall.Stumbling backward, my arms flailed like a cracked-out crossing guard. My over-packed messenger bag slipped, pulling me to one side. My hairflew it front of my face, a sheet of auburn that obscured everything as I teetered dangerously.Oh dear God, I was going down. There was no stopping it. Visions of broken necks danced in my head. This was going to suck so—Something strong and hard went around my waist, stopping my free fall. My bag hit the floor, spilling overpriced books and pens across the shinyfloor. My pens! My glorious pens rolled everywhere. A second later I was pressed against the wall.The wall was strangely warm.The wall chuckled.“Whoa,” a deep voice said. “You okay, sweetheart?”